It's true, today is National Margarita Day, and I didn't just make that up. It's also Ash Wednesday, so it's clear what you need to do to stay on God's good side.
The classic margarita consists of 7 parts tequila, 4 parts orange-flavored liqueur (cointreau or triple sec), and 3 parts lemon or lime juice — but there are plenty of tweaks you can make to shake things up a bit. Like...
Making it a sangria-rita!
(Oh and fun fact: apparently the frozen margarita came about when a genius bartender decided to take a soft-serve ice cream machine and turn it into a margarita mixer. Go hug your favorite bartender today!)
2 oz Camarena Silver Tequila
1 oz orange liqueur
3/4 oz lime juice
3/4 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz agave nectar
1 1/2 cup crushed ice
2 oz chilled bottled sangria (i.e. Madria Sangria)
Orange wheel garnish
Directions: Place all ingredients except sangria in blender. Blend until completely smooth. Place in freezer for 2 to 3 hours or overnight to firm. Shake container occasionally so mixture does not separate ingredients while freezing. When ready to serve: in wine goblet or decorative glass, alternately layer frozen tequila mixture with 1/4 to 1/2 measures of chilled sangria. Garnish with orange wheel.
Adding pomegranate juice!
1 1/2 ounces Tequila Don Julio Blanco
2 1/2 ounces pomegranate juice
2 teaspoons fine sugar
1/2 ounce lime juice
Sugar (to rim glass)
1 lime wedge
Directions: Combine Don Julio Blanco, pomegranate juice, fine sugar, and lime juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well. Rim margarita glass with sugar. Strain ingredients into margarita glass. Garnish with lime.
Or fresh fruit!
1 1/2 oz of Camarena Silver Tequila
1 -2 oz fresh raspberries
1/2 oz of agave nectar
1 oz of fresh lime juice
Sprig of mint for garnish
Directions: In a rocks glass muddle raspberries. Add agave nectar, lime juice, and tequila. Fill glass with ice cubes, and use a cocktail stirrer to vigorously stir the cocktail. Garnish with mint sprig and a few raspberries.
Or, screw it, let's just add some chocolate and marshmallows to this bottle of tequila and call it a s'mores margarita.
1.5 ounces Sauza Silver Tequila
1 ounce chocolate syrup
1 ounce chocolate liqueur
2.5 ounces cream
Mini marshmallows
Ice
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Pour into glasses and garnish with a skewer of mini marshmallows. If you can resist for a few more minutes, you can also combine chocolate and marshmallows on the stove to make a chocolate-marshmallow sauce to rim the glasses with.
Previously: For Potentially Getting Laid.
Diana Vilibert is a writer living in Brooklyn.
Image courtesy Camarena
Don't even care about booze, but that picture really makes me want an Orange Julius.
@figwiggin (Which is not to say I don't super-enjoy your posts, Diana! I just like to horn in on every Hairpin article whether or not its contents are actually relevant to my life.)
On the fun fact:
The best inventions always come about when someone's like, hey, maybe we should alcohol in that!
@cmonster Truth.
Thank you for the reminder; National Margarita Day is now being celebrated at my desk, making the rest of my reading on Brazilian coffee elites so much more enjoyable.
@caset: "Brazilian coffee elites" - I'm unclear whether you're reading about people or a new type of beauty regimen.
@ejcsanfran Sadly, people. It would be so much more fun if it was a beauty regimen... what would that involve?
@caset A Brazilian with a full pubic skin treatment featuring a coffee masque?
@caset pubic skin.....
That Sangria-rita may be delicious, but, based on previous experience with wine-based margaritas, I worry.
I visited my long time penpal in NYC a few summers ago and ended up at a hungover dinner with her family one day. Her mum ordered us sangria-ritas and within the first one I went from horribly hungover to better to drunk. They're a magical thing.
Oh geez, I was about to be all 'Wow! It's been declared Save Live Australian Music Day over here, what random things to have on the same day' but then I realised that the hairpin means 'yesterday-today', because it is Thursday here. sooo. yeah. plus SLAM Day is really just something cooked up by a radio station, hardly anyone will have heard of it really.
I typically think that tequila kills and should be avoided at all costs. However, I will drink margaritas at every occasion possible.
(Also, when you got to a restaurant and they ask "Do you want the regular size or the large size?" when ordering a margarita, clearly the answer is "LARGE." I mean, why is that even a question?)
So...after 2 margaritas, one of my coworkers and I pinky swore that we would each create a [drunk] OkCupid account tonight. My self-summary starts like this:
"I'm not DTF, so don't ask. Seriously, last time I got a message like that, I deleted this thing. That's so rude, so if you're a disrespectful douchenozzle, you can fuck right off. Thanks so much."
I don't foresee myself getting asked on too many dates. Self-sabotage? I think so.
@She Saved The World, Alot I'm personally offended at the lack of response your comment has generated.
@Third Wave Housewife Haha right thread, wrong time, I guess? Maybe I'll try again on the open threat tomorrow?
is that 2.5 ounces cream, or qream?
Has anyone ever had agave nectar? What does it taste like? I am so curious but it's very expensive.
@iceberg it's sweet and kind of like maple syrup, but less mapley? does that make sense? it's worth the money to put it in fancy drinks, honestly. You can get it at Costco for like $8!
@iceberg I had someone describe it to me once as tasting like honey, if honey was made from grass.
@contrary @girlandtonic that's sort of what I thought, kind of a mild honey. Might have to give it a try!
@iceberg I'd describe it as like a thick honeysuckle nectar that is also considerably sweeter (am I the only one who would occasionally pull apart honeysuckle and eat it as a kid? maybe?) I haven't eaten honey in......I don't know how many years (I'm allergic) so I can't weigh in on that description. But maybe super light maple syrup comes close.
You can also get flavored agave! It's good for iced coffee!
@iceberg It dissolves in cold liquid much more easily than honey and is about 1.25% as sweet as sugar, so you don't need very much. I think it has an earthiness to it, kinda like maple syrup but maybe more vanillay? It's about 30% the cost of maple syrup here.
@iceberg
Agave is the BEST in margaritas! Tequila, fresh limes juice, bit of agave, topped with club soda makes the most refreshing, not to sweet margarita. I also use it instead of honey for pretty much everything. It's sweeter but milder.